Startle - what's this woodland photography all about?

Righto NPNers. We’ve had a second lockdown here in Wales. It’s keep me local to where I live and venturing into the local woods and away from the sea and mountains. Luckily autumn and the fog arrived at the same time :slight_smile:

So in terms of cc I am looking for feedback in terms of the colour pallette. I wanted to accentuate the autumnal feel while also knwoing that I wasn’t too warm when I took this.

Does the composition work for you? Is there enough juxtaposition between the trees on the right and the tree on the left? Does the balance work?

Thanks as usual!!

Eugene

ORIGINAL:

REWORK:


@eugene_theron_photography

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Comp, color, WB, light all work for me. I think the right could use a little dodging but that’s just my personal preference.

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Beautiful light and a very serene understated scene. I like the changes made by @Michael_Lowe, but the original looks quite good. No other suggestions.

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Gorgeous painterly scene, Eugene. I think the analogous warm colors work for this autumn scene. I think Michael’s dodging adds to it but agree with Harley that it works nicely as presented too.

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I like it. You see this sort of thing all the time when you’re hiking yet don’t stop to shoot. I like the overall warm feeling. It feels like Thanksgiving is around the corner. I prefer the original but not by much.

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Eugune, this is a really beautiful image, it has such a calm and peaceful feeling to it. I agree with @Igor_Doncov this is the type of scene you often see while out hiking in the woods, yet don’t stop to shoot. I am really glad that you did stop to photograph this scene however, it is really lovely. I think the color palette looks great, and the warmth looks very realistic and not overdone. I also like that you shot this on the slope of the hill, I think it makes the composition much more dynamic.

While this image works really well as presented, I think some subtle tweaks would take it up even another notch. I would try to balance the luminosity a little between the left and right half. Pull down the highlights in the ULC. And dodge the right half, but use a lights luminosity mask selection to dodge only the things already receiving some light, such as the left side of the tree, and some of the leaves on the ground. I would also clone away the sky patch in the URC. Here is a rework, the changes are subtle, but I think helpful.

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I have to say that the more I look at this the more I appreciate how good this is. This is really a marvelous image. I tried cooling it the WB down just a bit. Big mistake. Some of it’s power is in that warm cast.

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I agree. Eugene, forget about the sea and mountains, you need to spend more time in the woods !!!

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This is an absolutely gorgeous woodland autumn scene, Eugene! While the original post was lovely I think @Ed_McGuirk’s small tweaks took this to the next level. I am enjoying the muted fall color as it looks very natural along with the light fog which only adds to the mood here. This has a slight air of mystery which I really like. The diagonal of the sloping hillside adds a little visual tension to this peaceful scene.

IMO this turned out to be the perfect Plan B. This is a beauty!

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Nicely done Eugene. Much has been said about the colour but I also think that the slope makes the scene feel dynamic.

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gorgeous image in my view, Eugene, with both color balance and comp balance working for me. the left tree silhouetted against that warn light makes the image IMO.

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This is a great shot. I like it very much how the view from the right trunks over the golden leaves to the big tree and then runs into this beautiful background. My gaze is drawn further and further into the forest as if in a spiral. I am absolutely fascinated by the beeches in the background.
For me the warmth in the picture fits exactly and I would not have paid any attention if you hadn’t mentioned it.
The only thing that lengthens my view a little is the trunk in the right corner. At first I thought about whether the picture could be trimmed a bit, but then some of the great roots would be missing, so I think a little darkening of the trunk would be enough.
A really impressive and inspiring photograph.
Best regards.

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Gorgeous image @Eugene_Theron, for.my there’s nothing I would change. It has the mood and the colour palette just spot on to what you want to convey.

Thanks for sharing,
Cheers

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@Michael_Lowe @Harley_Goldman @Adam_Bolyard @Igor_Doncov @Ed_McGuirk @Ed_Lowe @Nathan_Klein @j112 @João_Ferrão @Martin9 - Wow, thank you all very much! I am truly blown away by the response to this. Thank you!

@Igor_Doncov I had actually cooled it down a bit from how it originally was edited, just to get a touch of cool in it. I had taken it down a bit further, bit like you said didn’t work as well

@Ed_McGuirk I think you are onto something here. I wanted to show the contrast between the dark forest on the right and the lighter scene on the right. I was concerned that lifting the RHS of the image would make it lose balance, but looking at your changes here, I think it looks quite smart. Think, like you said, that it gives it an extra edge. And yeah maybe I sould spend more time in the woodland :stuck_out_tongue:

@Martin9 with regards to the trunk are you talking about the main one on the right or the smaller one in the background on the right?

Thanks again to everyone :slight_smile:

I posted a rework of the image at the top. Happier with the tones and balance of the light now. Until I chnage my mind tomorrow… :rofl: